Since 2007, more than $29 million in scholarship funding has been
distributed to nursing students through AACN-administered programs

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 9, 2012 – Today, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) is pleased to announce that five new Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars have been selected through a national scholarship program funded by the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future. Launched to address the faculty shortage and enhance diversity among nurse educators, this AACN-administered program provides generous financial support, mentoring, and leadership development to graduate students from minority backgrounds who aspire to teach in our nation’s schools of nursing.

Joining the 48 scholars previously selected for this prestigious honor (and a similar program offered by AACN and The California Endowment) are the following students, all of whom are all enrolled in PhD nursing programs:

(Pictured from left to right)

Nakia Charmaine Best, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Anissa S. Buhring, University of Colorado

Susana J. Calderon, Mennonite College of Nursing, Illinois State University

Renee McLeod-Sordjan, Adelphi University (NY)

Esther Smith-Howell, Indiana University-Purdue University

“We applaud this year’s outstanding group of Faculty Scholars and are excited by the contributions we know these outstanding individuals will make to nursing education and research,” said AACN President Jane Kirschling. “We are grateful to the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future for joining with AACN to address two of the profession’s top priorities by helping to diversify the nurse faculty population and support doctoral-level nursing education.”

The Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future – AACN Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars Program was launched in September 2007 to support full-time minority students with an interest in teaching. This program invites applications from students in doctoral and master’s programs who will serve as nurse faculty after completing their degree programs. Scholarship recipients were selected by a 11-member review committee with awards in the amount of $18,000 each disbursed in the fall. All scholarship recipients are expected to attend AACN’s annual faculty development conference and meet regularly with an identified mentor who will assist in preparing Faculty Scholars to assume leadership roles in academia.

Since 2007, AACN has administered programs that have distributed more than $29 million in scholarship funding to nursing students through a variety of efforts sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future, and the California Endowment, as well as through co-branded programs with CertifiedBackground.com, AfterCollege, and Hurst Reviews. The majority of this funding has been awarded to students from diverse ethnic/racial backgrounds and to those with financial need. To learn more about these scholarship opportunities, see http://www.aacn.nche.edu/students/scholarships.

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The American Association of Colleges of Nursing is the national voice for baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing. Representing more than 700 member schools of nursing at public and private institutions nationwide, AACN’s educational, research, governmental advocacy, data collection, publications and other programs work to establish quality standards for bachelor’s and graduate degree nursing education, assist deans and directors to implement those standards, influence the nursing profession to improve health care, and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education, research, and practice. For more information, visit www.aacn.nche.edu.